Molly Goodenbour Named Head Women's Basketball Coach

IRVINE, Calif. -- Molly Goodenbour has been named head women’s basketball coach at UC Irvine, announced by Athletic Director Mike Izzi.

Goodenbour, who becomes the seventh women's coach in the program's history, received a four-year contract.

“Molly is a proven winner with championship experience,” Izzi said. “She is a successful head coach and I look forward to her developing the UC Irvine program into a Big West Conference and national contender.”

Goodenbour, 36, comes to UCI after two successful seasons at Chico State, where she compiled a 52-11 record.

Last season, Goodenbour was named California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to a 28-6 record, tying the Chico State single-season record for victories. Her 2007-08 team ended the year ranked 17th in the final USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches Poll, won the CCAA regular-season and tournament titles, as well as advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Women’s West Regional.

In her first season at Chico State, the Wildcats were 24-5 overall and advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament Sweet 16.

“I am extremely excited to become a part of Anteater Athletics,” Goodenbour said. “We will assemble an excellent staff and get started immediately on the challenge of building and improving the women's basketball program at UC Irvine. I want to thank Mike Izzi, Paula Smith and the search committee for giving me this opportunity and I look forward to beginning this new venture.”

Prior to her stint at Chico State, Goodenbour was the head assistant at the University of San Francisco from 2005-06 and head coach at Santa Rosa Junior College for three seasons (2003-2005).

While at Santa Rosa, her teams compiled a record of 69-21 and won two conference titles. Goodenbour was named Bay Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2005 as her team advanced to the state quarterfinals. She spent one season as Santa Rosa's associate head coach before taking over the helm in 2003.

Goodenbour began her coaching career at USF during the 1994-95 season when she helped the Dons to a NCAA tournament berth. Professionally, Goodenbour began her playing career with the Swedish Basketball Federation then returned to play for the Richmond Rage (1996-97) and Portland Power (1997-98) of the American Basketball League before playing for the Sacramento Monarchs in the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1999.

Goodenbour played at Stanford from 1989-93 and was a member of the Cardinal’s NCAA Championship teams in 1990 and 1992. While at Stanford, the shooting guard made three Final Four appearances and was named the Final Four MVP in 1992 after setting an NCAA Tournament record for most postseason three-pointers made (18).

During her four-year collegiate career, the Cardinal posted a 114-16 record, including a 62-1 mark at Maples Pavilion. Goodenbour recorded 1,040 points in her career and remains in the Stanford career record book, ranking eighth in three-pointers made (178), seventh in assists (441), and 10th in free throw percentage (.793). As a senior, Goodenbour made 74 threes, the seventh-best, single-season mark in program history, and recorded nine three-pointers at Tennessee in 1993, the best single-game mark for the Cardinal. She was also a member of the U.S. National team which won a gold medal at the 1993 World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Brazil.

Goodenbour graduated from Waterloo West High School in Waterloo, Iowa, where she still holds the state records for career points with 1,270 and career steals with 354.